Unsafe for foreigners (or well anyone) to travel to US catchall thread

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Wow. Legal resident with a green card returning home to Boston Logan from a family vacay in Mexico and she gets detained and treated like this, with authorities refusing to explain the basis of her detention or even where she was at times? Then when they had to release her, they just dropped her off 30 miles from home with no phone and she had to walk half a mile to a mall to beg for help? If any of this is true, there are people working for ICE who should at very minimum be out of a job. At minimum.
 


Wow. Legal resident with a green card returning home to Boston Logan from a family vacay in Mexico and she gets detained and treated like this, with authorities refusing to explain the basis of her detention or even where she was at times? Then when they had to release her, they just dropped her off 30 miles from home with no phone and she had to walk half a mile to a mall to beg for help? If any of this is true, there are people working for ICE who should at very minimum be out of a job. At minimum.

If anyone has any doubt that these people are the norm at ICE, then they are deluded.
 
A prominent school leader in Winooski and United States citizen is speaking out after he spent hours in Border Patrol custody after returning to the country from a visit to Nicaragua.

“You feel like you’ve been abducted by a gang of aggressive, violent people who are trying to manipulate you and who are lying to you, and while you are being abducted, you know that these people are capable of doing anything to you because they don’t care," said Wilmer Chavarria.


That's how the Winooski School District superintendent described what he called an "abusive" and "bizarre" interrogation he endured at the Houston Port of Entry at the George Bush Airport Monday night.

...
Chavarria, a naturalized U.S. citizen who is originally from Nicaragua, said he and his husband, Cyrus Dundgeon, were returning from a trip to visit his family. Those family members had been living with him in Vermont under temporary protected status, but out of fear of deportation, they recently returned to their home country of Nicaragua.

Despite both being U.S. citizens and having Global Entry, at customs, Chavarria said he was told to go to a different section than his husband, before being escorted to a Customs and Border Protection holding room without being given a reason.

“Every time we attempted to ask, we were met with aggressive nos and very intimidating and aggressive verbal abuse on their part whenever we wanted to ask for answers," Chavarria said.

Moments after being brought into CBP, Chavarria said he was met with an unidentified woman calling him into another room.

“I asked whether I was being detained, and she said 'You’re not being detained,'" Chavarria said. "I said, 'Then can I go?' And she said, 'No, you may not go.'"

...

Meanwhile, during those hours, Chavarria said he was told he had no rights while being threatened and questioned by at least five interrogators.

"When four of them were in front of me, standing while they had me sitting down, they said that I do not have rights, that my constitutional rights don't matter at a port of entry and that I should stop talking about rights," Chavarria said.

When Chavarria asked to make a phone call, he was told "'No, we're not going to do that, give us a phone number,'" he said. "I said let me access my phone so I can give you a phone number, and they said 'No, just tell us, why won't you tell us?' But like, people don't just memorize their contact list."

During the interrogation, Chavarria said the unidentified individuals attempted to threaten and manipulate him into giving them access to his professional devices, containing information about students in the Winooski District.

“I was threatened with being referred to the FBI, the FBI was mentioned multiple times," he said. "They also threatened to stain my record so I would never get a job again. They also threatened with an extended detention if I didn’t give them the passwords to the student information or to my district files."

Yet, after five hours and never giving up his students' information, Chavarria said he was finally released, at which point he said a plainclothes officer "shook [his] hand and said that he admired [Chavarria's] resilience and the fact that [he] was protecting student information."

Article doesn't say, but I bet he flew in through Miami.
 
I won't be able to go back to the U.S. perhaps. cool cool cool


In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stripped Turkish doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk’s of her visa based on what a court later found was nothing more than her opinion piece critical of Israel.

Now, a bill introduced by the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is ringing alarm bells for civil liberties advocates who say it would grant Rubio the power to revoke the passports of American citizens on similar grounds.

The provision, sponsored by Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., as part of a larger State Department reorganization, is set for a hearing Wednesday.

Mast’s legislation says that it takes aim at “terrorists and traffickers,” but critics say it could be used to deny American citizens the right to travel based solely on their speech. (The State Department said it doesn’t comment on pending legislation.)
 
I won't be able to go back to the U.S. perhaps. cool cool cool


In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stripped Turkish doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk’s of her visa based on what a court later found was nothing more than her opinion piece critical of Israel.

Now, a bill introduced by the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is ringing alarm bells for civil liberties advocates who say it would grant Rubio the power to revoke the passports of American citizens on similar grounds.

The provision, sponsored by Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., as part of a larger State Department reorganization, is set for a hearing Wednesday.

Mast’s legislation says that it takes aim at “terrorists and traffickers,” but critics say it could be used to deny American citizens the right to travel based solely on their speech. (The State Department said it doesn’t comment on pending legislation.)
I really don't think this is going to happen, and even if it does, even this SCOTUS would strike it down.
 
Houston Port of Entry at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

It’s at the end of the 3rd paragraph in altmin’s post.
Decades ago, I got stopped and questioned by Feds at George Bush International. I was a junior associate and had flown down from NYC to sit in on proposed all-day meetings in person while the partner called in (dialing in remotely in the late 1990s was still bad form, we did meetings in person). Things got heated and our clients walked out. So I was at the airport way earlier than expected to head back to NYC. The travel folks in NY told me to buy a one way ticket home at the desk and they could use my later return flight for a discount the next time I flew to Houston (which was a regular thing then) later, which I did.

Two DEA officers with badges out approached in the food court and asked me to come with them. Being a young lawyer, I wouldn’t. So they questioned me about an hour in the food court. Turns out a one way ticket from Houston to NYC is a sign of a Coke mule (or was then). Even after I showed my return ticket etc, they didn’t buy my story because I didn’t have any business cards on me. That and I didn’t want them to look in my briefcase because it had privileged strategy documents I was sent to collect. I finally let them look in the briefcase. Also had to take off my suit coat and get thoroughly patted down, including inside my bra. The lady offered to take me to the restroom but I was refusing to leave a public space because I was pissed they wouldn’t just call my office to quickly sort it out and they were pissed I did it all in public instead of quietly going to whatever office they had. 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, hadn’t thought of that in years. LOL. Would NOT press my luck all junior member of the ACLU style like that in the current environment.
 
The US government hasn't deported anyone based on their tattoos alone, according to comments from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official in a court filing last month.

However, court documents show immigration officials are employing a points-based system known as the "Alien Enemy Validation Guide" to determine if someone is linked to the Venezuelan gang.

It includes a scorecard, and according to the document, eight points across a number of categories could be grounds for arrest or deportation.

Half of these points can be given if a "subject has tattoos denoting membership or loyalty to TdA".

The document says if all eight points come from the symbolism category, which includes tattoos, then further consultation should be taken before designating someone as a member of TdA.

Just noting here that the track record of government produced "Enemy Validation Guide"" scorecards is not so good, and maybe not something you want to be doubling down on, Zen.
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